[1] Bersama was trashed in the Johor state election, losing its deposit in all 15 seats it contested. But that was not surprising given that the party went to the polls just weeks after it was formed, with barely any party machinery on the ground and candidates long on passion but short on campaign experience. Johor was Bersama’s baptism, the beginning of a long journey.

[2] The bigger story is how the other parties fared. Pakatan Harapan, with its bigger war chest, its better election machinery and the full weight of the federal government behind it, won just 8 of the 56 seats it contested; several PH candidates lost their deposits too. Bersatu and PAS didn’t win a single seat. BN benefited as some voters shifted away from PH or stayed home.

[3] The message was clear — voters have had enough of PH and are ready for change. PH leaders are still in denial — blaming Bersama for splitting the vote, insisting that next time will be different, and trying valiantly to carry on with business as usual. They don’t seem to get it that a plurality of voters are angry, disappointed and disillusioned with PH, and with Anwar in particular.

[4] Perhaps PH leaders are still clinging to the hope that non-Malay voters, wary of PAS, will quickly fall into line if PH simply waves a green flag. They don’t seem to appreciate that Anwar’s own brand of political Islam is just as worrying to non-Muslim voters.

[5] Some are urging PH to refocus on the reform agenda and move more strongly against corruption. It’s too late for that. The country is already in election mode. The unity government is fraying: its component parties are attacking one another at state level while pretending to be one big happy family at the federal level. Passing legislation will become next to impossible. The Bill to separate the roles of the Attorney General and Public Prosecutor — one of PH’s signature reforms — has been postponed to the next Dewan Rakyat sitting. Realistically, there is little reason to expect Anwar to deliver in the time remaining before GE16 — at most 19 months — what he has failed to deliver in over three and a half years in power.

[6] PH’s sharpest selling point was always the contrast it offered to UMNO and PAS. Compromise and betrayal have severely weakened that contrast to the point that voters are as distrustful of PH as they are of BN or PAS. Voters must now consider who best will keep the spirit of reformasi alive in a post-GE16 scenario where UMNO-PAS looks likely to form the government. 

[7] What this means is that Bersama now has an even greater opportunity to position itself as Malaysia’s last, best hope for reform. Critics say it is too new, too small, too unproven to compete with the established parties. But political parties are what the people make of them. Giants fall — UMNO did in 2018, PH did in Sabah and Johor. An upstart can rise to giant-killer status if it has the support, and the organisation and campaign discipline that experienced hands like Rafizi and Nik can bring.

[8] We might well be at another defining moment. Voters can fall back on the same parties and personalities that have consistently failed them, stay home, or invest their hopes in something new. There are early signs of a shift to Bersama across the country — membership rising, volunteers coming forward, donations growing. If enough people catch Bersama’s vision and join the movement for change, Malaysian politics could finally get the reset everyone’s been hoping for.

[9] For this reason, it would be premature to write off Bersama after a single tentative electoral foray. It’s still early days for the party. The political situation is evolving. In many ways, the nation is moving into uncharted territory. People are frustrated and angry. They don’t want to go back to business as usual. If Bersama stays the course, if voters respond positively to its message, it could well emerge as the only force able to serve as an effective and honest check on whoever forms the next government. And that could breathe new life into an otherwise moribund political system.

[Dennis Ignatius | Kuala Lumpur | Friday, 17 July 2026]